In March, a curious pop-up timed to International Women’s Day, swept the city, then quickly disappeared. Now, That Lady Thing (originally named The Lady Factory) is back by popular demand, for a five-day pop-up. Produced by Eleven, a San Francisco creative agency, it’s an immersive, experiential project akin to 29Rooms and the Color Factory with a timely and serious twist: All of its Instagrammable corners tackle gender inequality, the pay gap and sexual harassment. The exhibits carry names like The Corporate Climb and The Sea of Objectification; even the cocktails are intentional. After its initial run in San Francisco, Eleven is contemplating taking the show on the road to cities like New York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, says Eleven Creative Director Jamie Shaw, “Starting here gives us freedom and a license to speak out, as the awareness, activism and creativity history in San Francisco are more progressive than anywhere else.” But how to go beyond the skin-deep effect associated with the ubiquitous format? Shaw explains.

Q: Tell us about the inspiration for the exhibit.

A: The original event was on International Women’s Day. The agency invited the creative department to think up a project. We were inspired by the selfie culture; every moment is currently curated on social media. We wanted to ride that wave, but with stories on inequality and gender bias. We found the tension between something colorful and fun-looking but serious if you look closely, very inspiring.

Q: What would you like the visitors to walk away with?

A: The high-level takeaway is to use your voice to demand change — if it means to demand more money or a promotion, or to know that you’re not alone if you’re harassed. I think we all understand these are the issues of the day, and we need to speak up, but often this conversation happens in a street protest. A more playful place gives people permission to not separate their activist selves from their joyful selves.

The Lady Thing is a five-day immersive pop-up dedicated to raising awareness of issues like the pay gap and gender discrimination.

Photo: That Lady Thing

Q: Why choose the experiential, immersive route?

A: In my experience, we’ve been always taught to separate our political activism from lifestyle behavior. People tend to dichotomize the space in which they protest and display activism and who they are at work, at school or a party. On top of that, society told women that being an activist is being shrewish, too serious. Especially for women, fighting against something is not being encouraged. The effectiveness and the power of this project is creating a space that’s magnetic, joyful and fun, a place you want to be. At the same time, you can post and express the same message that you’d use in a protest. It’s a space where posting a political message feels different and compelling.

Q: How does That Lady Thing compare to all the other immersive exhibits frequenting the city?

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A: Our priority is very much the thoughtfulness and the quality of the exhibit. We gave a great amount of care to the crafting. One difference is that we want to carry the story line through every aspect of the experience, while other installations might feel like a lot of different elements in one space. Our exhibit feels like parts of a cohesive story, from the cocktails to items we give the visitors in the end: the goodie bag. It’s also worth noting that it’s an adult experience, a little bit provocative, part speakeasy. It’s fun, but with real, intense emotion behind it.

Q: Discussions of inequality tend to happen in highly educated, financially stable communities that are already hyper-aware. How do you intend to make a bigger impact?

A: I know exactly what you’re talking about. In addition to creating a pop-up, a big part of what we want to do is raise money to donate to women’s causes. We’re interested in growing the platform so we can collect proceeds and funnel them to organizations who cater to a variety of communities. We’re also trying to speak to different levels of bias, race and class-wise. In the future, we would like to create a separate experience for teens outside of the professional women crowd, or take some of our activations to schools or places that are less expected. We built the exhibit to be flexible and compartmentalized. Finally, it was important to keep the price as low as we could while covering our costs.

More Information

That Lady Thing: Aug. 5-9, the Great Northern, 119 Utah St. Tickets are $25, available on Eventbrite.